this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2024
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Context: I'm missing a cutting board. So I wrote in our telegram family group: "Wo ist eigentlich unser zweites großes Schneidebrett hin?" (literally: "Where is actually our second big cuttingboard thither?").

By using the modal particle "eigentlich" I insinuate that something is oddly off and express an emotional state of curiousity and/or mild discontent.

By adding "hin", I notify that I ask because it is not where it is supposed to be and not because I don't know where it should be.

Now I ask myself, how would I express this additional information in English?


Edit: Thank you all for your answers! I learned a lot. Just our cutting board is still gone, and probably enjoying it's freedom somewhere ... I suppose.

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[–] ineffable@sh.itjust.works 0 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

"It looks like the second cutting board has grown legs. Any ideas?"

The first sentence uses a sarcastic metaphor that indicates the correct placement is known but the item is not to be found there

The second sentence expresses an interest in knowing what others can tell the speaker about this situation - maybe not quite discontent, but definitely interest in it being located

[–] Kantapper_Kantapper@feddit.de 0 points 9 months ago

In Germany, if something has grown legs, it's implied that someone took it without asking or it has been stolen. At least that is how I am using it, or how I grew up using it.

[–] DharmaCurious@startrek.website 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Are you asking how to express this information in a utilitarian way, as in, how do you convey the information to be understood? Or are you asking how to express it in a poetic way? The use of thither makes me think you're hoping to express this is a jokingly poetic sense.

[–] Kornblumenratte@feddit.de 0 points 9 months ago

In an everyday colloquial way.

The directional particel "hin" is a commonly used word in German without an exact equivalent in English. "thither" is the best approximation I could find, though it's usage is completely different, of course.